GAINESVILLE - Earlier this month the National High School Baseball Coaches Association announced the six individuals who will be inducted into the NHSBCA Hall of Fame in 2026: Sitting the top of the class? Gainesville coach Chan Brown.

Brown is entering his 30th year coaching high school baseball, his second at the helm of the Red Elephants' program. His longest and most notable tenure was at Parkview High School, where he served for 21 years. Under his leadership the Panthers won 15 region championships, six state championships, and national championships in 2012 (Baseball America), 2015 (Baseball America), and 2018 (Baseball America, MaxPreps, USA Today, and Collegiate Baseball Magazine).

Brown's knack for cultivating talent hasn't translated to team success only as he's had 17 former players named in the Major League Baseball Draft out of high school, including Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson, and helped guide more than 200 student athletes towards competing at the collegiate level including four from his final year at Parkview (2024) in Cade Brown (his son who signed with Georgia), Thorpe Musci (Georgia Tech), Adrian Jimenez (Virginia Commonwealth), and Ford Thompson (Mercer).

Brown was also part of the USA Baseball staff for more than a decade and managed the 2014 15-U U.S. National Team to a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in the Americas.

Among the individual accolades his coaching prowess has garnered; Brown was named National Coach of the Year by the ABCA in 2019 and the NHSBCA in 2015. He was named MaxPreps Coach of the Decade in 2000 two years after being inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame.

Brown entered the 2025 season, his first as head coach of the Red Elephants, ranked 19th on Georgia's all-time wins list for a head coach with 579. He enters this season with 592 wins, eight shy of becoming the 16th coach in state history to reach 600 career wins. Gainesville will play a home scrimmage against King's Ridge at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 4 and begin the 2026 season at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 against Jackson County.

The NHSBCA Hall of Fame Convention, which will house the NHSBCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony, will be held Dec. 3-6 in New Orleans.